I love cooking fish, not because I know it’s healthy and I happen to like fish. It’s because it cooks very fast and is super easy. (Yes, convenience is very important to me)

Whenever I’m cooking fish I know that I won’t be making a mess and I will be eating in 15 minutes. Usually preparation only takes less than 5 minutes and cooking time is less than 10 minutes.

I’m running out of ideas on how to cook my fish, since I cook it very often. So, today I’m trying to make baked salmon with cilantro garlic pesto, because I just bought a bunch of cilantro and I always have garlic.

I don’t go grocery shopping for recipes that I want to make, but I make recipes with whatever I have on hand. I’m not saying that one way is better than the other but that’s just how I do it, since I’m not much of a planner in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets
• 1/2 cup (packed) cilantro
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 tbsp of chopped garlic
• 1 lemon
• Salt (or fish sauce) and pepper to taste

 Directions:

• Put your salmon fillet on a baking dish, and season with salt and pepper. (if you are using fish sauce you can put the fish sauce together with the other ingredients)
• Put cilantro, oil, chopped garlic, fish sauce (if using) and juice of half a lemon in small blender or food processor.  Pulse until everything is mixed and smooth.

• Pour over the salmon fillet and top it with thin slice of lemon.

• Bake for 8-10 minutes in 350 F oven. (Be careful not to overcook the salmon)

Tips:

• If you don’t like cilantro you can substitute it with other herbs, such as basil, parsley or dill (you might need to adjust the amount of herb used in the recipe)
• When cooking salmon I’m always watching my oven like a hawk, because I don’t like overcooked salmon. I prefer my salmon to be medium rare-ish. That way it will be flaky and soft. But, if you like your salmon fully cooked you can leave it in the oven for a little longer.